K-Music festival returns to London

Korean Music Festival K-Music returns to London for its 11th edition this October. Running from 3 October to 23 November, the 2024 festival brings a diverse mix of Korean performers to the capital.

The festival opens on October 3 with a new production of Lear (pictured above) from traditional Korean opera company National Changgeuk Company. Following a successful debut at last year’s Edinburgh International Festival, this major restaging of Shakespeare’s tragedy will mark the company’s Barbican Centre debut.

K-Music Festival artistic director Jaeyeon Park said: ‘We are thrilled to announce that the National Channguek Company of Korea’s production of Lear will open the 2024 K-Music Festival! Shakespeare's classic gets a fresh perspective in this reinterpretation infused with Korea's rich heritage. The celebration continues with soprano Hera Hyesang Park who will present a unique performance that breathes new life into traditional Korean songs and folk music. Fans of the festival can also look forward to exciting new music from returning artists Youn Suh Nah, Black String, and Heemoon Lee.’

Fresh from this year’s Edinburgh Festival, soprano Hera Hyesang Park makes her K-Music Festival debut on 26 October with a reinterpretation of traditional Korean songs at St John’s Smith Square. Alongside collaborators pianist Bretton Brown and tenor David Junghoon, Hyesang Park, blends her Korean heritage with the Western training she received at Juilliard to perform works from her new album Breathe.

Further festival performances include concerts by Songlines Music Awards winner Black String, jazz singer Youn Sun Nah Duo, genre-bending Korean artist Heemoon Lee and No-Noise, an ensemble blending Korean instruments with a post-rock sound who this year will be joined at the Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room by the Seoul Metropolitan Traditional Orchestra.